Ok so this is a super special post. As I sit down to write it, I know this is going to be probably the most enjoyable and indulgent post I have ever written.
And that is because on Friday, at about a quarter to five, in the almighty Harrods, my absolute, ultimate, most distracting and consuming fashion dream came true. I bought a classic Chanel handbag. It was genuinely an important and fanfare worthy moment for me.
As I write this, I have to be honest and say that I am feeling an overwhelming wave of emotion because it honestly means so much to me. This hasn't been one of my many flippant impulse buys, this is completely another thing. It has been many years in the making. It has been a passion and a source of pleasure and pain. This may sound ridiculous but it's just how I feel.
It has been a dream. And for a long time, it was just that. A dream. I never actually thought I would own one. Then a few years ago, I was made redundant and decided that maybe I should get it then. I did a lot of talking about it, probably too much talking....and eventually talked myself out of it. Other things came along that seemed more urgent. So it never happened and I kind of put the dream back to where it had always been. Way on the back burner.
And then this week I was having my weekly telephone catch up chat with my mum. As usual, we talked about the normal things. You know, what to buy my son for Christmas, the latest supermarket deal on Malborough Sauvignon Blanc, Fashion Articles that she has cut out of the Telegraph and posted to me.
And then she suddenly said, "You really must buy that Chanel bag you've been talking about forever. The last thing you want is to wait until you're 60 to start swinging it around".
Whilst the mere suggestion that I would ever be 60 nearly made me sick on the spot, a sudden surge of huge excitement rushed through me. She was right. I'm getting on a bit. I turned 36 this year and if I am not going to get this bag now, when am I going to get it?
So it was crunch time. I was either going to have to give up the dream completely or bite the bullet, stop chatting about it and get the credit card out. Now or never? Oh my goodness this was exciting stuff! Although I didn't make the decision instantly, you can't when you are talking about THAT much money, I did kind of know what I was going to do.
I was only going to buy the bloody thing!!!!! Yay!!!!! Well done Mummy!
And then for the next three days it was literally all I could think about. I decided that the specific requirements were jumbo classic flap in caviar. On those details I was certain.
I always assumed that I would have silver hardware. But conversations I had with fellow style bloggers had thrown the gold hardware in to the arena. In turn, this had thrown me into a complete frenzy. Oh my goodness. Gold or silver? In a panic, I sent the question out to the wonderful Twitterverse.
Gold came back as the hardware of choice. But every time I closed my eyes and imagined the bag, I saw silver. I decided that I had to go with the dream. It had to be silver. Please do be aware that I know how dramatic I am sounding right now!
So I had been phoning around the London Chanel Boutiques and quickly realised that the jumbo beauty I wanted was in rather short supply. I had learned that morning that the lovely people at Chanel's Brompton Cross boutique had one.
But because I had spent so much time agonising over the silver/gold issue (my friend Vik told me that I actually looked ill), by the time I phoned Brompton Cross to put the bag on hold, it had gone! Gutted does not begin to describe...
And so just as I was about to give up and go to bed (yes this was during the day but I was feeling defeated), I remembered Harrods. How could I have forgotten?
I phoned them and they had one. One!!! They had one!! But would it still be there by the time I got there??? Stress! More stress! This was supposed to be fun!
So I made a desperate plea to Harrods via Twitter. And then an email arrived from Lisa, the Social Media Manager at Harrods. This angel sent from heaven had been to the Chanel boutique, tracked down my bag and put in on hold for little old me! Amazing! Everything was good again!!!
So I picked up my boy Ben from school and we hot-footed it to Knightsbridge. The lovely Lisa came to meet us at Chanel and she stayed and chatted to us while I bought the bag. I bought the bag!!!! Finally!!!
It was amazing. The staff at Chanel were so lovely that it made parting with that amount of money fairly painless. We sat and relaxed whilst they packaged up MY bag in a gorgeous box.
Lisa gave Ben a beautiful tin of biscuits with a music box inside. It played 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer' and he absolutely loved it. He also got a badge, a tree decoration and a giant choccy coin. Way to go Harrods! Ben didn't stop talking about Lisa the whole way home. I think he'll actually want to come shopping with me next time!
And as for me, well I am ecstatic! My friend Vik and I are planning to visit the Veuve Clicquot bar at Harrods to celebrate getting my dream bag and relive the moment. Vik is my ultimate shopping partner in crime. If it wasn't for her, I would probably never even considered buying a Chanel handbag in the first place! So she's a little disappointed that I did this one alone! Another Harrods trip will make up for it.
We can't wait! And when I say we, I mean Vik, myself and my baby Chanel.
Thanks Harrods and especially Lisa for helping to make my dream come true. Having an amazing shopping experience makes finally owning the bag even sweeter than I imagined.
And here are the photos of my new baby.
It is definitely love. Don't we look happy together?
So what do you think? Am I completely and ridiculously over dramatic?! Or have you felt like this about something? Have you received service that makes your day?
Can't wait to hear from you
Ree
XXX
